Chapter Four
Sweat pooled in the hollow of Mack's throat as she lay in bed, wearing her normal fare of a tank top and briefs. The blankets were a jumbled mess on the floor, and the breeze that moved through the room due to the open door and window wasn't doing her much good. She had given up before she caught Oliver during their playtime that night, and now she was suffering the consequences.
Her mind kept drifting to Oliver; it had been a few days since she had found him tearing up his atrium in grief, and since then he had been his normal cheerful, buoyant self.
He had seemed to be craving physical touch more, though, and Mack found that she enjoyed the small pats on her hands and shoulders that he gave her. He'd even given her a massage. His spade-like hands were surprisingly soft and gentle.
The sound of something moving in her room had adrenaline surging in her blood. Her eyes snapped open. At first, the shadows all blended together, but then–there! A huge shadow darker than the rest. Her heart pounded.
Mack stared at it, her eyes widening as she tried to see if it was real. Slowly, her hand reached for her cellphone, which she always kept on her nightstand even though she couldn't get a signal.
The shadow moved closer and Mack screamed. The dark shape lurched to one side and disappeared out of her door. Mack screamed again, her clumsy fingers dropping her cell phone. She reached for the lamp and was blinded as light flooded the room.
There was nothing in sight, and she rushed to the door. Other than her room, only Oliver's was on this level. There were no stairs, only a fire pole and a ladder that went to the floor beneath.
When Mack turned on the lights in the hallway, she saw nothing. Had it gone into Oliver's room? She dashed back into her room, grabbing an antique candlestick as a weapon, and cautiously approached his room. Her heart thumped in her dry throat, but she wasn't about to turn back, not when there was something up here. It had been huge! Was it a cougar?
Oliver entered the hall before she reached his room. As usual, he only wore his boxers. He yawned, scrubbing at his eyes before frowning at her. "Did I hear you scream?"
"There's an animal in here!" she hissed.
Olive's brows rose. "Animal?"
"I was in bed and there was an animal standing over my bed." Mack lowered the candlestick.
Only now that she was saying it out loud, she wasn't entirely certain it was true. She always had strange dreams, and often when she woke up it took her a few moments to discern truth from a dream. What if she had still been half-asleep?
Oliver's eyes widened. "What kind of animal was it?"
"It was too dark to tell. Did anything go into your room?"
"No. I heard you screaming, but I thought it was just part of my dream."
Despite herself, Mack found herself curious as to what sort of dream she would be screaming in. "Were you having a nightmare?"
He ducked his head and kicked at the carpet. "Yes," he mumbled.
Mack didn't believe it. Her heart warmed as she thought of what other sort of dream she would be screaming in… With Oliver, it was impossible to tell how he felt about her. If he was attracted to her, then—
Stop. Mack tramped down on her musings hard.
Even someone as hard to read as Oliver would have obvious signs of attraction–especially since they both spent all day long running around in their underwear! But then, she had never looked for that sign of attraction… Well, it was rude to stare at people's groins and she wasn't going to start now!
"It might have been a cougar," she said, turning her mind back to what was important. "Nothing else would be able to climb in through the windows."
"The windows up here have screens on them," Oliver offered. "Did you close the door to the next floor?"
Mack opened her mouth, but suddenly she couldn't remember if she had. "I don't know."
Oliver padded down the hallway towards the trapdoor that covered the fire pole and ladder that led downstairs. Mack followed, though she couldn't stop herself from looking over her shoulder every few seconds. Her heart had returned to normal, though, and being close to Oliver she felt safe enough that this whole situation was starting to feel a little ridiculous.
The door was closed, and there was no way an animal would have been able to close it after itself.
"I might have been dreaming," she confessed. "Sometimes that sort of thing happens to me."
"Better safe than sorry." Oliver gave her a smile. "We'll check the windows to see if the screens are intact."
They headed for his room. The blankets on Oliver's bed were twisted up into a nest, and there were scatterings of leaves and twigs everywhere. Mack bit back a sigh as he checked the window in his bathroom–she would have to vacuum up here again. Well, at least it wasn't the absolute mess it had been when she first arrived!
Last of all, they checked the windows in Mack's room. Other than the time when he had showed her the spacious room, complete with a bathroom that featured a three-person hot tub for a bathtub and a shower big enough to fit four or five people inside, he had never been in there with her. Mack sucked her lip between her teeth, feeling awkward about him being in her private space.
"Everything's intact," Oliver said. "No holes in the screens anywhere."
Mack wrapped her arms around her waist, beginning to shake now that the adrenaline was wearing off. "It must have been a dream. That happens sometimes. I'm sorry I woke you up."
Oliver scratched his chin, expression puzzled. "Are you okay?"
"It's probably the heat." She forced a smile. "I've never been able to sleep well hot, and it leads to that half-awake half-sleeping drugged state where everything seems real."
It had felt so real, though. Different than any other time she had ever experienced the waking dreams that so often confused her. But there was no way an animal had gotten into her room. Unless…
"I want to see something." She grabbed Oliver's hand and dragged him back to the main part of her bedroom, positioning him at the foot of her bed.
"What is it?"
She didn't answer, flicking off the hallway light before laying back down and turning off her bedside lamp. Her breathing was shallow as she peered into the darkness. She could barely see the dark shadow that was Oliver. But he was far too tall to have been the thing standing over her bed.
"Mack, what is it?"
"Take a step back?"
Oliver did so, grumbling. "Do you think I came into your room?"
"No. But Gedge is still after me. If he learned where I was…" She turned the light back on. "But what I saw–what I think I saw was too short to be a person. I guess I was just dreaming. I'm not going to be able to sleep at all tonight, though."
Guilt flashed across Oliver's face. "It was me," he blurted. "I'm sorry. It was me."
Mack rose a brow. "Excuse me?"
"I couldn't sleep, and I decided to come wake you up so we could go play or watch a movie or something. So I came in here, and then I realized how selfish and creepy I was being, so I was going to leave, but then I woke you up. And I was too embarrassed to say anything."
Mack stared at Oliver. She knew she should be furious at him for that, sneaking into her room and then putting on that elaborate show of checking everything to hide his actions, but she wasn't. Instead, she found herself laughing. Maybe it was just that she was too relieved that it was Oliver and not something scary, but she wasn't angry at all.
"That's a relief," she said, brushing her hair from her face. "For the record, though, please don't come into my room when you think I'm sleeping unless you turn on some lights first."
Oliver nodded. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Mack smiled. "Let's just go to bed."
Oliver stared at her, licking his lips nervously. He opened his mouth, but seemed to change his mind and hung his head. "I'll turn on the air conditioning in here so you can sleep better."
Mack didn't know what possessed her to say it, but the words were out before she could stop and think rationally–"Would you like to sleep in here tonight?"
Oliver froze. He turned wide eyes on her. Was it just her imagination, or did he actually look excited? His eyes hooded. "You mean sex?"
Heat flooded Mack's face. "I… I wasn't exactly thinking sex, but…"
What was she saying? She wasn't the type of girl who just invited men to have sex with her! And Oliver had never shown interest in her in that way.
"But?" he prodded.
"I'm sorry. This is completely inappropriate. Forget I said anything."
Oliver inched towards the door, a conflicted expression on his face. Eventually, he sighed and shook his head. "It's late, you're tired and with that scare, you're not thinking clearly. We'll talk in the morning."
Wait, what did that mean? Mack's eyes widened and she straightened. "You mean you want—"
"We'll talk in the morning," he repeated. "Goodnight."
He shut the door behind him, and within a few minutes the gentle breeze of the air-conditioning wafted across her skin. Mack shut the windows, her mind reeling.
Maybe it was because she was tired and it was so late at night, but she thought she had seen the desire in Oliver's eyes... but that was ridiculous, wasn't it? He was so childlike, he probably never even thought about sex, or thought that he would get cooties from her or something. She was reading too much into things, and she had made him uncomfortable.
Wasn't this exactly the type of situation that she had wanted to avoid? She was going to be gone in a couple more months anyway… But the thought of leaving made her wince. Even though she had only been with Oliver for a month, she felt like she had known him her whole life, and she was more comfortable with him than she was with her own family.
I'm in too deep.
Mack lay down in bed and turned off her light–but she did not sleep at all.